New Grants approved at EMpower’s Grants Meeting in Hong Kong!

Posted 01 February 2019 in EMpower News, Grantee Partner News   |   Share

The second EMpower grants meeting of this fiscal year took place in Hong Kong on Monday 28 January. Six grants totaling $281,000 were approved during the meeting. We were pleased to see many newcomers attending their first EMpower grants meeting, with 22 people attending in total. The meeting was a lively exchange, and the guests showed a keen interest, participating and asking questions based on the docket presented. Many thanks to all who attended!

The following grants were approved in the meeting:

Yayasan Ekoturisme Indonesia (East Bali Poverty Project), Indonesia ($80,000 for 24 months):
EMpower’s 4th grant over 2 years will focus on prevention of school drop-out, child marriage, child labor and teen pregnancy. It will reach out to 87 youth from the mountainous areas of East Bali. The program will give them in-depth training on nutrition, Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Health (SRRH), gender equity, computer skills and English language. Youth will engage with their communities to explore solutions to the issues they face together. Youth will be trained in leadership development skills and on vocational/higher education preparedness. The ultimate aim is to enhance young people’s self-development, encourage them to stay in school, and be better prepared to access the job market.

Pamflet (Perkumpulan Pamflet Generasi), Indonesia ($18,000 for 12 months):
EMpower’s 4th grant to Pamflet will equip 45 young women and men in Indramayu with skills and knowledge on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and will for the first time empower them with basic work readiness skills as well as skills to prevent violence, also at the workplace. In Palu, affected by the earthquake and tsunami from September 2018, the program will support 30 young women with trauma healing and violence prevention sessions and strive to build Safe Spaces at the school level. The young women will also participate in training on SRH and will reach out to their school peers with the support of trained teachers.

Yayasan Kusuma Buana (YKB), Indonesia ($42,000 for 12 months):
EMpower’s 5th grant to YKB will provide quality and age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive rights and health (SRRH), drug abuse prevention and gender equity to 1,000 school-going youth aged 10 to 19, and 706 high-risk youth aged 15-24 in communities. The program will continue to engage with teachers to support dissemination of SRRH education in school and continue to make use of peer education at both the school and community level to increase its impact. 20 health workers in 3 local health centers will continue to receive training to adapt their existing health services to be youth-friendly, thus increasing the chances of sustaining the program by empowering local stakeholders. The services offered by the mobile unit will be expanded to offer not only voluntary HIV counselling and testing, but also comprehensive reproductive health care services.

Zone One Tondo (ZOTO), Philippines ($40,000 for 12 months):
This sunset grant to ZOTO will equip 80 at-risk young people aged 15 to 24 with important job readiness and computer skills. They will be linked to employment or vocational training or reintegrated back to school. The sunset grant will deepen the learning after the pilot of the Livelihoods Coaching/Job Readiness Program and will result in (for example), integration of a new module on financial literacy into the general curriculum, or further development of the teaching of English language skills.

Lend A Hand India, India ($101,000 for 24 months):
EMpower’s 6TH grant to LAHI will train 300 youth over 2 years to become nationally accredited vocational trainers in schools. These trainers will help 10,000 at-risk adolescents in government schools to improve their technical skills in STEM subjects.